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The Platonic and Aristotelian Mimetic Paradigms In Light of Gans and Heidegger
Full text linkThis essay develops a comparison between the treatments of mimesis (imitation) in Plato and Aristotle, and also the critique of Plato in the work of Martin Heidegger, in light of the clear bias that Heidegger displays toward an Aristotelian interpretation of Plato. The Generative Anthropology of Eric Gans, and its situating of language in relation to culture as a whole, provides a context for my treatment of mimesis, contributing an important perspective on the underlying purposes of Plato’s differentiation of philosophical from rhetorical discourse, and the ways in which that illuminates Plato’s view of mimesis. Likewise, given that Plato was the first to bring to mimesis a philosophical examination, a clearer understanding of the key role played by the construct of mimesis in Plato’s work, I argue, sheds light on the interpretation of mimesis in the theoretical model of Gans’ Generative Anthropology.
interpretation ofThere is an inherent tension in the imaginal scene of representation between its mediating, violence-diffusing role and its sublimatory rendering of alternative satisfaction. A clearer understanding of the way this is negotiated near the beginning of the theoretical tradition, in the work of Plato, would be helpful.
For Gans, language emerges as a mediation of mimetic rivalry by shifting the confrontation over the object of desire to the imaginary scene of representation. Both Gans and Girard see the work of Plato, who first formalizes mimesis as a construct, as playing a similarly mediating, representational, and scapegoating role in providing a rational alternative to arbitrary violence and power, and to the sophistic use of language and rhetoric as a means to political influence. The difference between the assertive grasp of the desired material (economic or political) object and the ostensive gesture of language enables the mediation of violent conflict and the preservation of peace in community.
In the work of both Girard and Gans, Plato plays a foundational role in the history of theoretical awareness of mimetic violence in being both the first to formalize theoretical discourse, as such, and for the role played by mimesis in that founding formalization. For Girard, while Plato is unique in his awareness of the hidden dangers of mimesis, he is also “deceived by mimesis because he . . . never uncovers its empirical reason for being” (15). Similarly, for Gans: "To eliminate the ostensive," as he claims Plato does through the doctrine of ideas and the abstraction of the concept, "is to expunge the local historicity of deferral of collective violence by means of the sign" (81). In an earlier essay (2009), I argued that there is a remarkable degree of explicit awareness in Plato of the material and political dangers of mimesis. In that essay, I focused primarily on The Republic and on the performative sophistication of Plato’s highly innovative use of the genre of the philosophical dialogue. In the present paper, I would like to pursue this line of investigation further by examining one of Plato’s later dialogues, The Sophist, where he deepens and refines a number of the central preoccupations of The Republic in relation to his quarrel with the Sophists, the role of mimesis, and the foundational nature of metaphysical forms or ideas. My aim will be to gain a clearer understanding of the relation between the empirical (Girard), the local and historical (Gans), and the metaphysical (Plato) approaches to the role of mimesis in the imaginary scene of representation
Formalising informal learning: Assessment and accreditation challenges within disaggregated systems
No full textThis article is based on a report published by the Commmonwealth of Learning and available at This paper shares the findings and lessons learned from an investigation into the economics of disaggregated models for assessing and accrediting informal learners, with particular attention to the OER universitas (OERu) consortium. It also relies on data from a small-scale survey conducted by two of the authors on perceptions, practices and policies relating to openness in assessment and accreditation in post secondary institutions (Author, 2012). These investigations include the perceptions of stakeholders in post secondary education of the OERu concept and a look at economic and governance challenges for universities to consider in implementing OER assessment and accreditation policies.Commonwealth of Learning, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, OER Foundation, Athabasca University (TEKRI
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No full textChair the Section on Women and Psychology (SWAP) annual business meeting, organize and attend the (SWAP) Executive dinner, organize and Chair the (SWAP) Executive Business breakfast meeting at the 74th Annual Convention of the Canadian Psychological Association (CPA) in Quebec City, Quebec, June 12-15, 2013.
In addition, I attended a 1-day SWAP Workshop focused on discourse analysis, which was an excellent learning experience for me. As chair of SWAP, I also attended the Annual CPA business meeting and dinner.
Events provided an excellent venue to meet other SWAP members, as well as other CPA section chairs.Chair the Section on Women and Psychology (SWAP) annual business meeting, organize and attend the (SWAP) Executive dinner, organize and Chair the (SWAP) Executive Business breakfast meeting at the 74th Annual Convention of the Canadian Psychological Association (CPA) in Quebec City, Quebec, June 12-15, 2013
Large Scale Deployment of Tablet Computers in K-12 Schools in Brazil
Full text linkThe presentation provided information on the large scale implementation of tablet computers for teachers in Brazil. The Brazilian project offers a very interesting research scenario for western countries, since this country is fairly aligned with the western culture, tradition and behavior. However, the Brazilian experience can be replicated in very different countries of the world, even those that are culturally different. Few countries in the world have an organized and somehow centralized education system, with such number of students (8 million), to propitiate the opportunity to research on large scale deployment of the use of tablet computers in classroom. When the research is completed, the results will be published for wide dissemination.Different sectors of the society of many countries have been demanding for significant improvements in their education systems and teaching and learning practices in recent years (Keller, 2008; Latchem & Hanna, 2001). The need of keeping or developing competitiveness has been the main reason for these calls. These countries has been faced some challenges in terms of lack of skilled works, capacity of resilience from the labor market to deal with dramatic economic changes, and the pursuit for more productivity based on the use of technology. Brazil is a good example of these countries. It has been struggling to improve its public basic education in order to keep the conditions for developing. One of the initiatives to do it is changing the education paradigm in K12 schools with the use of tablet computers in a large scale deployment. This paper describes the social scenario that has leaded to this initiative and how it has been made in a huge country, involving hundreds of thousands of tablet computers for K12 schools
Development of an Introductory Financial Accounting OER at Athabasca University
No full textThe development process of the OER text was described in a 40 minute parallel session on October 24 as part of the seventh annual COHERE conference entitled Open Resources, Open Courses: Their Impact on Blended and Online Learning. The presentation generated a broad-ranging discussion about Athabasca University’s OER and e-text initiatives. The text was mentioned in the keynote address of David Porter on October 25 as a new example of OER development work.A project underway at Athabasca University to develop an Introductory Financial Accounting text as an open educational resource will be described. The resource will be used in one of the University’s largest undergraduate courses, Introductory Financial Accounting. The course has more than 1,700 registrations per year. Over 1,000 pages and 13 chapters of instructional and supplementary material have been developed. The genesis of the project, and the general writing process and challenges encountered, will be discussed. Plans to concurrently produce paper-based and online, enhanced versions of the text will be discussed
The Accumulation of Capital” – Economic Underpinnings of Rosa Luxemburg’s Democratic Socialism
No full textI attended the International Rosa Luxemburg Conference at the Sorbonne on October 4-5, 2013 and had the privilege to present my research, and a new book, on the relations between Rosa Luxemburg’s economic theory and her activities in the international labour movement to a group of distinguished scholars from Europe, Asia, and North America. The organizers had to book a larger room twice; an attendance of about 200 people indicates that there is a strong interest in rethinking the theory and practice of labour to which Rosa Luxemburg contributed so much in her days. These contributions seem to be widely recognized as a good starting point for a reorientation of labour after a long period pf decline and in the face of ongoing economic crises and political attacks.Left critics of the statist policies pursued by social democrats and Soviet communists often drew inspiration from Rosa Luxemburg’s critique of union and party bureaucracies and her uncompromised commitment to the self-emancipation of the working class. But usually they neglected, or even rejected, her economic theory. Contrary to such a separation between Luxemburg’s political and economic ideas, this paper argues that the latter are an indispensible part of any strategy that aims at a democratic alternative to the statist socialisms represented by social democrats and Soviet communists.
In ‘Accumulation of Capital’, Luxemburg shows that accumulation relies on the capitalist penetration, or colonization, of non-capitalist economies. Politically, this points at the necessity of building strategic rather than just tactical coalitions between workers struggles and anti-colonial struggles, whereby the latter also include significant parts of the women’s and environmental movements. Luxemburg also explains that the limits to capital accumulation lead to prolonged periods of struggles. These periods also include the moments of decision that can ultimately lead to socialism or barbarism. The paper concludes that the War on Terror and the Great Recession opened such a period similar to that beginning with the outbreak of WWI in 1914, a year after the publication of ‘Accumulation of Capital
The utility of portable optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) readers in providing temporal contexts in clastic depositional systems: opportunities in geomorphology
Full text linkThis outline summarizes a presentation I made on August 28, 2013 at the 8th International Conference on Geomorphology organized by the International Geomorphological Association at the Cite des Sciences et de l’Industrie in Paris, France. The presentation was titled “The utility of portable optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) readers in providing temporal contexts in clastic depositional systems: opportunities in geomorphology”
Luminescence readers are devices that are used to detect low levels of light emitted by geological samples when stimulated by heat or another light source. The light from the samples comes from energy that accumulates in mineral grains such as quartz or feldspar as a result of low level radioactivity that occurs naturally in earth materials. This energy accumulates over time as long at the samples are shielded from light. Therefore luminescence signals can be used to measure burial age of the samples. Over the last 5-6 years, portable versions of the regular lab-bound luminescence readers have been developed and while these are simpler devices, they can be used to obtain luminescence signals much more rapidly than with the lab-bound OSL readers.
Our presentation in Paris outlined three case studies that we have carried out in Alberta that illustrate the utility of portable OSL in geomorphology, which is the study of the shape of the earth’s surface. In the first study, we used the portable OSL reader to determine relative ages of depositional units in a dune landscape in southern Alberta. In the second study we used the portable reader to demarcate basal sections of wind deposited dunes that overlie glacial sands in central and northern Alberta. In the third study we used the portable reader to differentiate between sedimentary units disrupted by human activity (oil and gas related pipeline work) and those that are still naturally intact.
Overall, the three studies illustrate the usefulness of portable OSL readers in providing a better insight with regards to the timing of deposition in young sedimentary systems, especially in those emplaced by wind. Understanding such contexts is central to the study and interpretation of geological processes that take place near the earth’s surface.The recent development ofa functional portable optically stimulated luminescence (POSL) readers has ushered in new opportunities in geomorphology. Although POSL readers do not necessarily provide absolute ages as in regular OSL dating, they can be used to readily acquire luminescence signals from clastic sediments. Such signals can be used to construct luminescence profiles which depict the variation of the luminescence signal with depth within a depositional sequence. Luminescence signals depend on dose rate, sensitivity of the mineral grains, mineralogy, degree of bleaching and burial age of the sediments. When all these parameters apart from burial age are held constant, the luminescence profile can serve as a proxy for the chronostratigraphy.
A number of studies we have carried out on the Canadian prairies with a POSL reader developed by the Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre serves to illustrate the utility of the readers. Their portability means that the device can be carried to the field and analysis can be performed on bulk samples, negating the need for time-intensive mineralogical separations, as is required in regular OSL dating. In one study we used the POSL reader to profile Holocene eolian dune sequences to determine the relative ages of the depositional units as well as ascertain whether any lengthy depositional hiatuses exist within the sequences. In another study we profiled postglacial dunes that overlie glaciofluvial sands in an effort to delineate the interface between the two depositional facies. In a third study we used luminescence profiling to identify eolian dune sands that were still intact from those that had experienced post-depositional mixing. In all three cases, luminescence profiling afforded an enhanced temporal context of the stratigraphy, permitting better sample targeting for regular OSL dating. Overall the studies underscore the breadth of geomorphological settings in which the POSL readers can be used
Program Experiences of Men Completing the Reaching for a Good Life Program
No full textThe Reaching for a Good Life program is a therapy group for men who are abusive within the context of their intimate relationship. It offers a non-shaming approach to help the participants to make the change they need in order to live a violence free “good life”. This presentation was an invited presentation and given at the 33rd International Congress of Law and Mental HealthThis presentation will report the findings of a qualitative investigation into the experiences of thirty-one men completing the Reaching for a Good Life program as well as post-group quantitative measures of executive functioning and anger/hostility. The men were interviewed immediately after completing the four-month program. The semi-structured interview prompted the men to consider what was helpful (or not) for them in the program and to reflect on where they experienced the most growth. In addition, the quantitative measures were discussed with the men and this initial post-group program evaluation data suggests that participation in the program appears to be correlated with positive outcomes at group completion. The major themes emerging from the qualitative reflected on program design, the changes in their interpersonal relationships and areas of personal growth. The use of this qualitative data in further program design will be discussed
Terms of Reference for BALTA Partners
No full textThis document outlines the operating principles and values of the BC-Alberta Social Economy Research Alliance (BALTA).BC-Alberta Social Economy Research Alliance (BALTA